


we depend on you / i depend on you

by praetoring



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Post-Season/Series 02 AU, Shiro (Voltron) Angst, What-If, but i love seeing my faves in pain more, but kinda ya wish fulfillment, i love shiro, not quite wish fulfillment on my part
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9618710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/praetoring/pseuds/praetoring
Summary: Bathed in the magenta glow from the planet’s luminescent trees, stepping out from the smoke, the paladin’s see him. From the tuft of white hair, to the scar across the bridge of his nose, down to the mechanical right arm, the figure is unmistakably Shiro, brought back by some miracle.The glowing yellow eyes are new.-How do you fight one of your own?How do you save one of your own?





	

It ends like this.

 

Shiro is nowhere to be found, having vanished from right inside his lion.

 

The other paladin’s are at a loss for what to do next. Galra is destroyed right? Do they even need Voltron anymore?

 

Yes they will always need Voltron. But Voltron is currently in need of a leader.

 

Shiro had said Keith should take over the role of leader, but Keith’s not sure he’s even capable of piloting the black lion, let alone leading the others. He’s hurt, and he’s directionless, having just lost the man he looks up to once more. Keith is at a loss at what they should do next. They all are.

 

It’s Allura who steps up to fill the role of leader. Not that it’s that big a step; she’s been leading this team from Shiro’s side since day one. It’s the most natural course of action for them to take. There’s a sense of normality to it: Allura giving orders, and the paladins responding in turn. It’s easier to fall back into a rhythm this way, as long as they ignore the Shiro-sized hole in the room. Something easier said than done.

 

Allura gives them direction when they’re not sure how to move forward. There are plenty of worlds out there who have suffered under Zarkon’s rule, and with Zarkon out of commission seemingly permanently, it’s time that they set the record straight. Time to clean up the Galra’s mess and restore peace to the galaxy.

 

Besides, Pidge’s family is still out there. No better way to track down a lead from a blurry video feed than to take out any Galra opposition in their way.

  


* * *

 

 

It goes like this.

 

Though some might call the battle with Zarkon’s main fleet a success, for the paladins, it’s nothing more than a pyrrhic victory. Their emperor may be gone, but the Galra are not down or out. A new face emerges in Prince Lotor, the heir apparent to the Galra Empire, who is constantly shadowed by the traitorous Altean witch Haggar. The duo, in combination with the remainder of Zarkon’s ranking officers, continue to put up a fight, refusing to accept defeat.

 

And the paladins are still without Shiro.

 

For months it’s give and go. Where they find success one one planet, on the next the Galra wreak havoc and ensure destruction, leaving the team feeling helpless to stop them. The Galra are desperate now, and hold back nothing. They’ve been made fools of in front of the entire galaxy and want to regain the total control Zarkon once held over the galaxy. With words daring to rebel left and right, the remaining Galra are willing to do whatever it takes to stabilize what is left of their empire.

 

Allura’s bond with the black lion is one formed out of desperation. They need a paladin of the black lion to lead them, and Allura was the only one able to fill the role. She’s the only one who had a chance of being accepted.

 

Black only accepts Allura as a stepping stone to getting back her proper paladin. Allura as the key to finding Shrio, even if no one realizes it yet.

 

It’s difficult to form Voltron now, more so than before, but they make due. Forming Voltron has become a last ditch tactic, when all other strategy has failed. Sometimes even that fails, and they are left in a dogfight with the Galra. All they can do is fire back and hope against all hopes that the empire will retreat soon.

 

Everyone’s weary these days. It’s hard to feel like they’ve made any progress against the Galra. For every push against the empire, the empire pushes back. It’s demoralizing, when all they do is take one step forward, and are forced one step back.

 

Fight the Galra. Defend world against Galra.

 

Rinse and repeat. It’s the same pattern for the team, as the week stretch into months

 

Keith tries to step up in these moments. If he can’t be the leader, then he can at least be the man Shiro believed he could be. Patience yields focus after all. Keep calm and try to keep the other’s on track. It’s not as easy as it sounds or as easy as Shiro made it seem. No one seems quick to respond to his attempts to step up in their time of need.

 

Maybe they don’t see in him what Shiro did.

 

Most of the time he just end up butting heads with Lance. Keith won’t admit it, but he does find it helps relieve some of the stress and tension. Blow off the frustration he has with the Galra Empire, and ignore the fact that they’re barely getting anywhere.

 

When they aren’t fighting, the two ignore each other. Keith hides away in the training room, squaring off against the gladiator.

 

Lance alternates between stargazing and listening to Coran’s tales, and practicing his sharpshooting. Keith won’t admit it, but he’s seen the progress. The other boy has gotten better, much better. Turns out desperation and determination are a good catalyst for improving skill.

 

Pidge hardly responds to his attempts. Any downtime they have and she’s right back to her computer, scanning stolen Galra data for clues to her family’s whereabouts. She’s no closer to figuring out who broke Matt out of jail, but it’s best not to mention that. It’s her way of being productive, so she claims. Keith would argue that it makes her more irritable. Some days he wants to snap at her. She’s not the only one who’s lost someone important you know.

 

He doesn’t mention it. Instead Keith swallows his anger at the injustice and moves on.

 

Allura is going to run herself ragged sooner or later. Between managing the castle, providing direction for words they’ve liberated, organising missions, and being a paladin of Voltron, she’s all go all the time. Even during the quiet moments, she’s working. Trying to find Shiro. Scanning the galaxy. He must be out there. There’s no time for her to stop, how could there be when there’s so much for her to do. She argues that it’s her duty as princess to shoulder all these responsibilities, despite the protests from the paladins and Coran.

 

It’s Hunk who is the solid bedrock beneath their feet. He’s the one that really keeps them going, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. Downtime for him means baking to relieve stress. He’s finally got a hang of the strange alien ingredients and makes a damn good plate of cookies. It’s what draws the rest of the team to him. When it get’s too much, it’s Hunk they turn too to vent. Hunk doesn’t sugar coat anything he says, but he isn’t cruel either in his response. Hunk tells the team what they need to hear, with a side of helpful advice, and a sweet alien cookie.

 

His endless kindness is what really keeps the team going. He’s scared, and tired too, but he takes it all in stride. Accepting, dealing, and then moving on. Hunk holds onto that glimmer of hope. They’ll be okay, one day.

 

And so they go on.

  


* * *

 

 

It stops like this.

 

It’s night when it happens. The paladin’s are on a strange luminescent planet, that was often mined for the phosphorus minerals it created. With Voltron, the team liberated the planet from the Galra mining operation. They were relaxing on a glowing beach, having enjoyed the festivities provided by the locals: short, blue elf-like creatures. Each of them tired and ready to turn in when the Galra attack.

 

The drone soldiers make for the scattered villages, hidden amongst the towering trees and palm fronds, the officers guiding them. What’s worse is Haggar is with the fleet this time and she hangs back.

 

The castle is too far away to get their lions in time. Keith swears Red will be there any second, and perhaps if they are lucky the other lions will respond to the distress of their paladins. But when have they ever been that lucky?

 

Bathed in the magenta glow from the planet’s luminescent trees and stepping out from the smoke, the paladin’s see _him_. From the tuft of white hair, to the scar across the bridge of his nose, down to the mechanical right arm, the figure is unmistakably Shiro, brought back by some miracle.

 

The glowing yellow eyes are new.

 

“Shiro?”

 

The question hangs over them. No one can believe what they’re seeing. No one moves, frozen in place. How can he be here? When they searched for months, and found nothing. Each paladin wants to run to him, their missing leader, to scream and cry and welcome him back, to demand answer and find out where he’s been. Hunk and Lance both look like they’re going to cry from relief. Keith looks ready to hug him and never let go. Allura looks beyond relieved. Her hands clasped at her mouth and shoulders shaking.

 

It’s Pidge whose expression is guarded. She who has lost family to the Galra once before, hesitates now. Shiro was lost to the Galra once, and now they’re getting him back a second time. She wants to hope it’s for good, but the rational part of her brain makes her pause.

 

There’s a feeling of trepidation hanging heavy in the air. That taste of fear, the raised hairs on the back of their neck. The paladin’s all want to run, but they hesitate.

 

Something’s not right.

 

It’s never more obvious than when Shiro’s right arm lights up with it’s eerie purple glow. It’s when Shiro charges at them, going on the attack that they all take a step back in surprise and disbelief.

 

“Go, Champion,” Haggar orders, before disappearing into the smoke kicked up by the fires the Galra have started.

 

“Wh-What Shiro? What are you do--” Keith grunts out, forced on the defensive. He’s the closest, and the first to bear the brunt of the man’s attack. Keith parries Shiro’s attack with his bayard. He does what he can to fend off the slashes coming from the mechanical arm, but he can barely keep up with Shiro’s speed. Sure they’ve trained together, but never at a speed this intense. Never with the intent to kill suffocating Keith.

 

Keith deflects a horizontal chop from Shiro, knocking his arm away. Instead of being deterred, Shiro follows the momentum, spinning on the spot. He follows up with a kick directly to Keith’s chest, sending the boy flying.

 

Shiro may only have a metal arm, but he is strong. And he is dangerous.

 

Keith groans from where he landed, in pain and non-to-quick to get up.

 

Deciding Keith’s been dealt with, Shiro turns to the other paladin’s, eyeing them like a predator does it’s prey. They all have their shields up now, afraid of this new Shiro.

 

A beat and no one moves.

 

Then Shiro’s on attack.

 

Hunk is the next to fall. He may be the sturdiest, but he lacks the conviction to truly harm a friend. The adrenaline may be pumping now, but the only thing Hunk feels is terror, and the desire to get far away from there. This makes him jittery and uncoordinated, and it isn’t long before his shield is knocked away effortlessly. Two jabs to the chest plate and a kick to the stomach later, and Hunk is sent flying. Two down.

 

“C’mon Shiro! This isn’t you!” Lance tries to reason all he can, but Shiro merely turns and levels him with a deadly yellow glare. Lance responds by raising his bayard weapon, but his hands are shaky, his palms sweaty. He can’t really fire at Shiro, can he?

 

He tries anyways. For all his improvement, Lance misses each shot, afraid of both hitting Shiro, and of Shiro himself. In no time at all, Shiro is right in front of him. Lance is swept of his feet, before being slammed into the sandy ground. The attack leaves him gasping for air, the breath forced from his lungs, and black spots dancing at his vision. Three down.

 

Pidge is next. She has her bayard out and ready to fight back. Her disbelief and anger turn into momentum and rage, all of which she directs at Shiro. How could he do this to them? To her? With a cry, she charges.

 

For all her ferocity however, it’s her smaller stature that gets her. Shiro braces himself for the attack, and when she slashes, he counters. Deflecting the attack, he uses her momentum to follow through and send her flying. She crashes  15 feet away, in a cloud of sand and dust.

 

“Please stop this, Shiro” Allura pleads, her staff aimed at him. His back is towards her now, as he watches Pidge who is slow to get up, but still moving. Still willing to fight. It’s two against one now, yet neither of the girls feel overly confident, just confused and hurt.

 

Allura attack first, Swinging her staff towards Shiro. He blocks each strike with his metal arm. While Allura might not train regularly, she’s easily as strong as the others, if not stronger.

 

The two go back and for like this. Shiro striking and Allura deflecting. Allura attacking and Shiro defending.

 

Pidge’s attack catches him off guard momentarily. Her bayard shoots out and wraps around his wrist. In response Shiro steps back, loosening the line, causing Pidge to stumble. Enraged, Shiro twists to the left, swinging his right arm in a wide arc, the bayard still attached.

 

Pidge is sent flying, and crashes right into Allura, both of them tumbling to the ground. Pidge is groaning now and Allura struggles to right herself, without hurting the smaller girl on top of her.

 

“Good, Champion, good,” Haggar crones from the shadows, “Now, finish them!” Shiro cocks his arm at the ready, the eerie purple glow light it up again.

 

The paladins have been knocked down, with the girls closest in a tangled heap. The boys are in various position spread out, each currently battling bruises though. They’re all at their most vulnerable.

 

Before Shiro can follow through however, he’s forced back.

 

The red lion pounces at him, forcing Shiro to dodge and retreat. The bot hovers over the downed paladin’s providing cover. Any time Shiro attempts to move closer, the lion swats at him, forcing the man to back of or be sent flying.

 

“Red, you came.” He’s in pain, but Keith still manages to stand. They need to get out of here. Looking around, he can see the others all have the same idea. Hunk and Lance are supporting each other, each looking roughed up. Allura has Pidge up, the younger girl held under arm, and pressed into the princess's side.

 

It’s a tight fit, but they manage to all squish into the lion. They race away from the glowing beach, leaving behind an enraged Haggar and her Champion, much to the paladin’s dismay.

 

It hurts them all, when the tell Coran back at the castle. It leaves everyone feeling hollow and aching. A different sort of ache than the bruises Shiro left them. One that goes bone deep, that hits them at the heart of it all. Suddenly the Shiro-sized hole in the room becomes overwhelming. They need space, they need time.

 

After all, he’s not Shiro any more, is he?

 

He’s Champion, once more.

 

 

* * *

 

It starts like this.

 

“It was that witch Haggar! I’m sure of it.” Allura has raged for the last few days. After the hurt and pain, came the anger at the injustice. Shiro, who has been the leader of the team, the guiding light, the moral support, has been taken back by the Galra, and made into something he’s not.

 

“It’s like he wasn’t even in there,” Hunk mumbles, “It’s like he didn’t know who we were or who he was.” It’s a bitter truth, one that took time to accept.

 

After the loss on the luminescent planet, the team needed time to recuperate and accept the truth that Shiro is under the thumb of the Galra empire once more.

 

Yet this time he doesn’t even have the privilege of being aware he’s a prisoner. No this time he is Haggar’s puppet. A mindless weapon for the witch to aim which ever way she likes.

 

They won’t stand for it.

 

“Doesn’t matter what they did, we’re going to get him back.” Keith’s determined now, and the others respond to him better than they ever did before. He looks to each of them, everyone with the same grim determination on their face. No more aimless wandering, they all have a common goal now.

 

The Galra may have taken their leader, and hit the team where it hurts, but Shiro’s a paladin of Voltron. He’s one of them. And they are going to take him back.

 

 

**END PART 1**

**Author's Note:**

> WHELP here's my little idea that wouldn't let go, and now is taking over my thoughts. I'll be upfront, I'm really not much of a writer, I mostly use this ao3 account to keep track of bookmarks.
> 
> But this is an idea I don't wanna let go. This is based ever so slightly on the Winter Paladin / Sleeper Agent Shiro theory, one I first heard of in the AfterBuzz Voltorn Podcast (the ep they had Bex on), and my obsessive love of Bucky Barnes. Plus a few twitter convo's I've seen across my timeline that just stuck with me. I also have an intense love for Shiro angst and Champion-Shiro, can you tell?? I'll be honest now, there likely won't be any romance / relationships in this. I love team-based / gen fics to much, and wanna get those relationships right.
> 
> I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to update this, I am in my last semester of uni, but I do have reading week soon. I'm also not sure how long this will be. I'm thinking maybe 5 chapters max? I don't wanna drag it out, I'm not good with writing long fics. Actually I'm not really great at writing period, but perhaps this'll be like a growing project for me. A way to get better heh
> 
> I'm baeymax over on tumblr, so feel free to come and scream at me if you want.
> 
> Anyways read, critique, kudo, whatever you want. Thanks for checking it out!


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